Clean Water: Boring Beverage or Life Saving Luxury?

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Water is essential to life and has been for as long as there has been life on this planet. Water is what makes Earth the only known home for life in the universe because all living organisms need water to survive. In America, unsoiled water is as easy as turning on the tap, but in many places around the world uncontaminated water is an unattainable luxury. The hardships tainted water poses on its consumers have been portrayed through the arts all around the world. Artwork, music, books, poetry, and many other mediums have illustrated the struggles the absence of clean water causes. The water situation around the world is in crisis. Water affects all aspects of a person’s existence including their health, their education, and their economies: In short water changes everything (Living Water International 2). Earth is the only identified planet that can sustain life due to the presence of water (Auburn 41). Almost all water in the world in undrinkable by humans. With over ninety-seven percent of all water in oceans, and another two percent frozen in the world’s ice caps and glaciers, only a measly one percent of all Earth’s water is fresh water consumed by over six billion people (Auburn 40). Every person on Earth requires about one gallon of water a day to sustain life. People in America on average use over one-hundred and fifty gallons of water every day, while people in emergent countries struggle to find even one gallon (Auburn 41). When this water is discovered however, most of it is impure and contains many hazardous parasites that can cause infirmity and even death. Water borne diseases and the lack of basic sanitation lead to the deaths of more people every year than all violent killings in the world, even war (“Wh... ... middle of paper ... ... Opinion: 9. Print. Marino, Deborah D.. "Water and Food Safety in the Developing World: Global Implications for Health and Nutrition of Infants and Young Children." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 107.11 (2007): 1930-1934. EBSCOhost. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. Paul Colman Trio. "Fill My Cup." KLove. KLove, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. . Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water 2012 Update. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2012. Print. Sahara. Dir. Breck Eisner. Perf. Matthew McConauhey, Penelope Cruz, and Steve Zahn. Paramount Pictures, 2005. DVD. Seager, Ashley. "Dirty Water Kills 5,000 Children A Day." thegaurdian 10 Nov. 2006: 26. thegaurdian. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. "Why Water?." Charity: Water . Charity: Water, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. .

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